After the trip to GDC Europe and gamescom

Last week the city of Cologne was buzzing because of all game developers and enthusiasts that gathered together for the largest game industry event in Europe – GDC Europe and gamescom.

Earlier this year we ran a contest to win all expenses paid trip to these great events. Today we’re talking to Konrad Karolczyk from T-Bull (the winner of this contest) who recently got back from Germany and, I believe, is still full of excitement:

What trends do you see in terms of most popular genres, biggest publishers, most popular platforms, new publishing opportunities, etc.?

Well, there was a lot of talking about releasing cross-platform games. Trying not to stick to just one of them and use variety of shops to sell your product. Also aspect of analytics in games was highly discussed. How to look on your players, what their actions mean and how to convert that to better experience.

Also, I was surprised how many great games are being made when I went to Indie Developers Area. A lot of people with great attitude, passion and determination to deliver really innovative products. It’s a refreshing experience! Nowadays, there’s a big challenge for game developers. 10 years ago we had a few games released every year to play. Right now hundreds of games are being released every day so everyone is trying to keep up with it. It forces you to write better stories, do better graphics and give the players even better experience.

Who were most excited for you to meet in the GDC or gamescom?

I was really looking forward to meet with guys from Unity. They’re really open to their customers and what is more important – they listen to them. But conversation with everyone was really valuable to me, from sound designers, composers, through programmers, to producers. While everybody is from different part of the world and has different approach to the industry it’s even more interesting to listen to their stories.

Do you think that participation in this kind of events is important for mobile game publishers and what kind of opportunities it could bring?

There is no better place to meet people and share experience. For me, it’s crucial to have opportunity to look on things from different perspective. You can confront your mindset with other people which gives you the most valuable knowledge.

And what would you suggest for those who are going to attend any other similar event? What can they expect from this type of conferences and does it need a special preparation?

Expect being overwhelmed. There is just so many things to see and experience! You really need to have a plan to be able to see as much as possible. And don’t be afraid to ask questions, sometimes they can give much more insight than presentation itself.

Thank you Konrad for sharing your thoughts and insights. It looks like you’ve really had a productive trip!

And I wanted to thank AdDuplex for opportunity to be on GDC Europe and gamescom. It was great experience, a lot of extraordinary people around and a lot of amazing projects. Really got inspired by a lot of stuff. So again, thank you very much!